The Biggest Loser: No Trainers Allowed

Bad Cop, Good Cop. Jillian put Migdalia in the therapy chair this week, attempting to break down her towering wall of anger and denial hiding the emotional pain inside. Jillian shook her up to the point of quitting, then sent Bob in to motivate her to stay. Looks like Migdalia's walls may be crumbling a bit -- we'll see. But the entire scene reminds us balancing diet and exercise is not always the only requirement for losing weight. Most of you agree that emotions and weight are connected.

Right-Sized Portions. Our favorite Aussie chef, Curtis Stone, returned Week 3 for a portion size reality check for the teachers. "Portion size in restaurants can get out of control ... they've created this ridiculous epidemic of people eating way too much food," said Stone. Silver platter lids were lifted to reveal typical restaurant meals and their gigantic calorie counts. A medium-sized salad with 860 calories, fried macaroni at 1,570, shrimp and pasta with 2,285, chicken and biscuits oozing with 2,500, and then a chocolate cake at 1,679. The show's heaviest contestant ever, Michael, said he'd typically eat all those dishes in one meal -- nearly 9,000 calories. Wouldn't it be nice if restaurants only served half-size portions at half the price?

300-Calorie Chicken Cacciatore. Here's your homework this week: Curtis taught the group to make this low calorie dish using 4 ounces of chicken breast and Muir Glen organic tomatoes with no salt. And it appeared to offer plenty of volume next to those massive restaurant portions. Let us know how it tastes.

Don't Miss Trainer and Chef Tips

A water workout is perfect for bad joints and certain other ailments, said Bob. Head poolside and start by alternating 30 seconds of jumping jacks and 30 seconds of treading water for 10 minutes. Increase the time as your strength improves. Here's how to stick to a swimming program in 2010.




Chef Curtis says one trick to add sweetness without added sugar is caramelizing your food in a non-stick pan under high heat. Caramelizing forces a food's natural sugars to rise to the surface and turn a sweet brown.


A Twisted Challenge. Teachers had to unwind 1,000 feet of ribbon in and around a playground. Alison led contestants to believe they'd then be randomly assigned a ribbon to undo and the quickest team would win immunity. After ribbons were woven as complicated as possible, tricky producers changed the rules. Not only did the student on each team have to unroll their own ribbon, they had to complete it blindfolded with only verbal assistance from their teacher. Gray's Koli and Sam barely beat a frustrated Red to win immunity and the power to flip a teacher/student assignment for one team at weigh-in.

At final weigh-in, students Darrell, John and Lance all lost double digits, and so did student Ashley. But when Red's Melissa lost only one pound, then denied a second week of sandbagging, Jillian and Bob accused her of lying. Remember, Melissa gained a pound last week after Red won immunity. Is Melissa innocent or guilty? Let us know in the poll.

In a game-changer, Gray picked White's Michael (teacher) and Maria (student) to flip roles at the weigh-in, citing Michael's lack of effort in the gym. Michael didn't lose enough, so mom sacrificed herself and headed home. She's lost another 24 pounds and weighs 230 today. Maria's new healthy cooking habits also have her husband down 37 pounds. After a swim breakthrough with Jillian, she landed a swimming instructor and has officially conquered her fear of water. Her next goal is swimming in the ocean. Now let's see if mom's departure gets Michael on track for fitness. See you next week as the scale may reveal whether Red was water-loading or not.

Remember, it has happened before: Game players get fat again.